Godfrey Mark Palmer (4 August 1878 – 12 June 1933) was an English industrialist and Liberal Party politician. Family and education Godfrey Palmer was the youngest son of Sir Charles Mark Palmer Bt, of Grinkle Park, near Loftus in the-then North Riding of Yorkshire - the founder of the Palmer Shipbuilding Co of Jarrow. His mother, Charles' third wife Lady Gertrude Palmer, was the daughter of James Montgomrey of Brentford, Middlesex. Godfrey attended Eton College in 1892 and left in 1896 to continue his studies in Paris. In 1906, he married Elma, daughter of Mr. Alexander Geddes of Blairmore in Aberdeenshire. They had a son and two daughters. Career As the scion of a famous business family in North East England, Palmer took an interest in shipping and the large industrial works on the Tyneside. By the time of his death, he had become Chairman of Marley Hill Chemical Company and managing director of John Bowes and Partners, colliery owners, in both of which concerns his half-brother, Sir Alfred Molyneux Palmer, who had inherited the Palmer baronetcy; was a director. Godfrey was also chairman of Chislet Colliery Ltd and had other business interests in London. He travelled widely on business trips, visiting the Far East, India, Australasia, and the Americas. Palmer also served in the Territorial Force. He achieved the rank of Major in the Yorkshire Regiment. Politics It was no surprise that Palmer followed his father into Liberal politics as he had followed him into business and industry. Sir Charles Palmer had been MP for North Durham from 1874 until 1885 when the seat was abolished. He then transferred to the constituency of Jarrow which he held from 1885 until his death in 1907. Sir Charles Palmer's death caused a by-election in Jarrow and the local Liberal Association adopted Mr Spencer Leigh Hughes, a London-based journalist and later MP for Stockport as their candidate. In that contest the Liberal vote was split by the candidacy of an Irish Nationalist and Hughes lost the election to Labour. Jarrow Liberals therefore had cause to look for another candidate and in 1909, Godfrey Palmer was unanimously invited to be the Liberal candidate at the next election. Palmer was regarded as a strong candidate for the Liberals in Jarrow, given the family name and local connections and was expected in some quarters to win the seat back from Labour while other commentators felt